Christina's POV

Slap!

My head snapped to the side, vision blurring, skin burning as if someone had pressed a brand into me. For a heartbeat, I couldn't even process it.

My fate mate just hit me.

Three minutes ago, I'd been stupidly daydreaming about curtains, rugs, chandeliers—how I would make the ridiculously expensive pack house look less like a museum screaming I have more money than personality.

Two minutes ago, I'd knocked over a framed photograph in his bedroom. Just an accident. A picture of my sister smiling like the golden saint she always was.

Now, blood rushed in my ears as the sting on my face spread, sharp and humiliating. The boy I once believed was my forever had just turned me into the villain of his story.

Akira roared inside me, claws scraping at the walls of my chest. Rage, betrayal, heartbreak—all tangled together until I could barely breathe.

Niall's lips pressed into a tight line. "You broke the only photo I had with Beatrice. Your jealousy makes me sick."

"Are you fucking insane?" I gritted my teeth.

"No, you're the insane one!" he roared."I already agreed to marry you,what more do you want? Beatrice had to leave because of you!Because you exposed our mate bond and forced me to accept you!"

The hatred in his eyes cut deeper than the slap.

"She was your sister! And now you're jealous? You won't rest until every trace of her is erased, will you?" He said in anger as he shoved me backward, into the coffee table.

Sharp pain sliced through my palm as I landed on the shattered glass frame.My blood dripped onto Beatrice's perfect smiling face in the photo.

How poetic.

My cheek throbbed. My hand was bleeding.But nothing hurt more than the realization that my so-called mate had never loved me.

"It wasn't me," I said, one final attempt at reason."I never forced this mate bond on you. I never asked her to leave."

Technically speaking,I understood why someone might blame me.Beatrice had left for abroad, leaving behind a letter. In it, she said she'd discovered my diary, knew Niall was my true mate, and decided to "let go," to "let him be mine."

My sister was about as generous as a reality TV contestant with someone else's money.

On my eighteenth birthday, I shifted and realized Niall was my mate. Over the moon, I wrote it all down in my diary. Niall was away on business,I planned to tell him when he returned. If he couldn't accept me, I was prepared for rejection.

But Beatrice found my diary. Made it public.

Apparently privacy was a foreign concept to her.She didn't just read it,she told everyone in The Crescent pack.As if I was the villain who drove away The Crescent Pack's perfect princess.

No one cared about my humiliation.I was dragged out and shamed. The pathetic spare who dared reach above her station for her perfect sister's Alpha.

To my family, I'd been bumped to the starting lineup after years on the bench,so I should've been grateful.My parents didn't truly care which daughter married Niall, only that the pack alliance was sealed.Even if Niall had literally ripped my heart out, my parents would've handed him napkins to clean up.

It was as if my parents had always hated me. No matter how much I outperformed Beatrice in training, they always made excuses for her and found fault with me. I was bitter, ungrateful, someone who couldn't appreciate her dear sister.

My fingers clenched around the engagement ring.This pathetic symbol of our joke mateship.

Hot tears blurred my vision. I blinked them back fast.

I took a step toward the door. Had to get out before the tears came.

Niall grabbed my wrist with his strength. "Clean it up."

"What?"I looked up at him in disbelief, needing to confirm I'd heard him right.

"You broke the photo. Clean up the pieces." Ice-cold command voice.

Too bad I never was good at taking orders.

"No." I lifted my chin. Zero compromise.

His jaw clenched. "You sure you want to do this, Christina?"

"Yes. I said no." I stared him down without flinching.

If love meant grinding my self-respect into cigarette ash, then fuck love.

The air between us snapped, tension rising like a storm. He leaned in, fury blazing. "Last chance. Disobey me, and I'll end this bond right here—"

"—are over," I cut in, my voice like steel.

Shock froze his face.For a moment,the air went still.He hadn't expected me to actually say it.

I yanked my arm free, breath hitching as hope for escape flared—only for him to seize me again, his grip bruising, his eyes burning with something close to hatred.

"This is on you, Christina!" Niall's snarl cut like a blade, his tone that of a sworn enemy rather than the mate fate had chained me to.

"I, Niall Granger, Alpha of the Frostpelt Pack, reject—"

"Shut the hell up!" I snapped, my voice sharp enough to slice through the air. If anyone was ending this bond, it would be me. My gaze locked onto his, unflinching. "You don't get to reject me. I reject you, Niall. Now accept it."

The world seemed to crack in half. Akira howled inside me, a keening wail of loss, while searing agony tore through my chest as the bond unraveled thread by thread.

His jaw tightened, but he forced the words past clenched teeth. "I accept your rejection. Now clean up your mess—and fix the damn photo."

My hands shook as I picked up the shattered frame, shards biting into my skin, my blood smearing across the glass. I tore the picture down the middle, ripping his face away from my sister's, as if severing every last tie.

Without hesitation, I swung my hand and slapped him hard across that infuriatingly handsome, arrogant face. The crack echoed between us.

I leaned in, letting him see the fire in my eyes. "Now," I hissed, "we're done.."

The silence was absolute.

My palm stung, but oh, the satisfaction almost dulled the pain in my chest.

Niall staggered back, shock flashing in his eyes—not from pain, but from realizing the docile girl he'd despised no longer existed.

I smiled coldly. "Goodbye, Niall. Go worship your shrine to Beatrice."

And I walked out, head high, before the tears could win.

———

Without waiting for a response, I walked out of that suffocating hell.I would rather drown in my own tears than let him see one more drop.

The drive to my rarely-used apartment was a blur.The one that had been gathering dust for months ever since Niall's mom invited me to live at their packhouse and plan the wedding.What a joke that turned out to be.

As I reached my door, I fumbled with the security pad.Wrong code. Again. And again.

Frustration boiled over.

I kicked the door with my heel,a pitiful gesture that accomplished nothing except sending pain shooting up my leg.

Of course.The universe had declared today The Epic Humiliation of Christina Day.

I slumped against the wall and slid to the floor as sobs tore from my throat.Why did everyone always choose Beatrice?!Hadn't I suffered enough? Second place in my family, just a replacement in my own mate's heart?

Just as I was nearly choking on my own cries, a deep voice came from behind me.

"That's my door you're assaulting."

Fury sparked in my veins.Why did someone always interrupt me just when I was having a perfectly good nervous breakdown?

"What?" I snapped, turning to glare.

I froze.

Moon. Goddess. Above.

The man standing in front of me was magnificent. Tall, powerfully built, with features carved and an aura so commanding it could silence an entire pack. His intense eyes studied me with quiet calculation, as if deciding whether I was worth his attention. He looked like the kind of Alpha who didn't just win battles but erased his enemies from history entirely.

Akira stirred inside me, curious despite our last-minute trauma.

She weakly said, "I really wish he would throw us over his shoulder and carry us back to his den."

I mentally shushed her,"As if we're in a porn scene.The camera angle would be a disaster."

"I—I'm so sorry," I stammered, "I thought this was my apartment."

He raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the door across the hall. "That would be yours, I believe."

My face burned with awkwardness.Great. Rejected, injured, and now looking like a complete idiot in front of the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen.

His intoxicating scent of pine flooded my senses,more addictive than the most expensive perfume. Goddess,I found myself helplessly drawn to those deep blue eyes.

"Right," I said, attempting dignity while looking like a raccoon caught in a dumpster fire. "Logical observation skills. Good for you."

His lips quirked. "Need help with your door code?"

"What I need is for this day to reboot like a malfunctioning iPhone," I muttered, "But thanks for the offer."

I stood up from the ground, smoothed down my dress elegantly, and walked toward my door.As if the crazy woman who'd just had a breakdown and kicked someone's door wasn't me at all.

Lucky me,Akira was weakened from Niall's rejection,or I probably would've demolished his door.

While I punched in my door code, I could feel those intense eyes watching my every move.Come on, fingers, work faster.

Thank the Moon Goddess again - beep - my door finally opened.

Before stepping inside,I turned to my drop-dead gorgeous neighbor with a polite smile. "Again, sorry for kicking your door."

After I closed my door, I pressed my hand against my racing heart.Damn.This guy had to be new here, or I definitely would've remembered someone that stunning.

Wait.What was I thinking?Was I really letting some sexy new neighbor make me forget the pain Niall just put me through?

Men were all bastards. Get it together, girl.

My phone buzzed. My mother.

"Chrissy, you must be insane!" My mother screamed."How dare you humiliate Niall like this! The pack alliance is ruined!"

"Mom, he rejected me," I said flatly. "As in, formally. Also, he hit me. So there's that fun detail."

"He... what?" For once, she sounded stunned.

My dad's voice cut in,"Don't be dramatic.After Beatrice sacrificed her happiness for yours?You will apologize to Niall immediately, or you're no longer welcome in our territory!"

He hung up before I could respond.

I stared at my phone.Why was it that no matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't earn even a sliver of their approval? Beatrice never had to do anything, yet she was their precious jewel.

Enough.

I was done trying to earn love that would never be given.

I was taking back the self-respect I'd lost long ago.

I was breaking free of this engagement with Niall—no matter the consequences.